We first saw a leaked version of 2.1 available on it late last month, but in what is hopefully a sign of things to come the Samsung i5700 has officially made the leap from lowly Android 1.5 to the current pinnacle of Android 2.1.

Unfortunately at present the update is only available in Germany and requires that you physically hook up to Samsung’s PC Studio 7 software to download, but according to Samsung the update will be “gradually rolled out to other European markets, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Asia, Africa and rest of the world.”

Hopefully they are using the word gradual here to mean over the course of the next few weeks rather than the sometimes nearly geologic time line that word can represent to companies.

The full press release is copied below if you are interested and includes the awesomely horrible line that the “smartphone now offers a galaxy of new features….”

There isn’t really any indication as to whether all of the features of 2.1 have made it so if any Spica owning Germans in the audience could pipe up with what they are seeing I’m sure the rest of the Spicans would love a glimpse into their future.

SEOUL, Korea — March 17, 2010 – Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., a leading mobile phone provider, today announced it has upgraded its powerful Galaxy Spica (I5700) smartphone to harness the power of the latest version of AndroidTM, Android 2.1. The smartphone now offers users a galaxy of new features and an unrivalled mobile experience.

The Galaxy Spica retains all the features inherent in the successful Galaxy Spica (I5700), such as seamless connectivity and access to GoogleTM mobile services, multimedia functionality and speedy processor performance

“Lovers of the Galaxy Spica appreciated the ease with which they could access their contacts and personalise their experience — our upgraded handset offers all this and much more; a rich and rewarding and powerful mobile experience,” said JK Shin, President and Head of the Mobile Communications Business, Samsung Electronics.

The upgrade will be available via PC Studio 7, Samsung’s unique in-house software upgrade program. PC Studio 7 was included in the package of Galaxy Spica or can be downloaded at the Samsung mobile website (http://www.samsungmobile.com).

Enhanced User Experienced
The Galaxy Spica becomes a highly intuitive communications device offering users the option to personalise no less than nine side-scrolling screens. Users can really let their imaginations run wild, creating different home screens according to different personal interests or requirements.

The handset now features augmented reality technology that displays real-time digital information of your surroundings over the view-finder of the Galaxy Spica’s 3 megapixel camera. The Galaxy Spica also features Samsung widgets, Visual bookmark and PC Sync support to enable users to synchronise their devices quickly.

Enhanced Multimedia and Messaging Functionality
The handset now comes with a number of enhanced multimedia features which transform the Galaxy Spica into a personal entertainment device. Media browser allows you to browse through your media collection with ease. The camera has been upgraded to offer enhanced picture options and viewing functionality.

Improved messaging functionality means that it is much easier to attach files to MMS and email that users can easily add contacts to messages direct from the phonebook. Improved contact management enables users to find a necessary contact very easily through the alphabetical index.

The upgrade will be available from March 2010 in Germany and gradually rolled out to other European markets, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Asia, Africa and rest of the world.

After a long-haul… Asia will finally can get a hold with a real Android Phone, not saying its the best but at least
it’s better than nothing right? Hopefully, Samsung will open their eyes to at least add more sauce to their Spica release.

The update for 2.1 for the i5700 is not available through New PC Studio at the moment. It is currently being worked on at the moment to resolve the issue. Unfortunately there is no time scale for the upgrade but please keep checking back to the software

there isnt any update yet all these web sites saying you can update they are wrong you cant yet

I bought this in Dubai, UAE. Doesn’t have Android Market even though Manual says that. Calling Samsung support and they are not equipped to support t. All most all apps crashes always. Never ever will I buy Samsung or Google phones. They are also not providing any updates to 2.1 also. PC doesn’t recognize USB after installing some apps, you have to reset the phone for USB to be detected by PC. I am not using the phone now, gone back to my Nokia 5310 which is far better.

1. There are only basic apps in this phone as a basic Nokia phone (not smartphone) has.
2. Android market was not there in the phone whereas the manual says install apps from market
3. USB mass storage is not found and has to follow certain steps to get it recognized by system. Whereas on other phone it gets recognized easily.
4. Almost all of the Apps that I found from internet and installed kept on crashing always including the Google applications.
5. USB will not be recognized after installing 5 to 10 apps, the phone keeps on saying charging (if charge is less)/king sound. I have to reset to factory setting to get the USB working…. See More
6. Samsung was unresponsive even after several attempts to get help from them.
7. Most of the apps were not installable as the OS was 1.5.
8. I tried contacting Google, they were also like dead meat.

I think the basic Iphone is far better than Iphone in all sense even though there is no flash support and not being open. This was my first ever smartphone. I will never ever buy an Android phone so also any phone from Samsung. I was an ardent Google fan because of their Google search, apps, pack etc. But here I felt cheated by Google and Samsung. Google is making a fool of customers by saying OS is open source and the app suite is closed. I feel if they charge some fee for the apps, I am ready to pay. I have repacked the phone and is happily using my Nokia 5310 which was thinking of replacing with I5700. I will be sending this “Great Phone” to Samsung at my cost for them to keep in their showcase as a symbol of best customer service

i bought the same in Dubai a few weeks ago and i’m really happy with it after a very frustrating time… go to http://www.slideme.org, get the apps there (install sam3.42) and enjoy the awesomeness of android… lots of free apps, multi tasking, fast and stable… no probs!
on the upgrade part, you can download the MAJ 2.1 from the web, you ll get the German version easily (multi language), follow instructions to install it with Odin software and then install the paid apps enabler in order to access the android market.

it is a bit of a pain in the neck but great rewards await you at the end of that techie journey…

Samsung support is terrible indeed, but we’re in Dubai, what do you expect? any support here is terrible

the Spica is the most affordable yet powerful android phone on the market at the moment, let s give them that…

There is nothing awesome about Android OS, its almost as good as WM6.5.

Yes it doesn’t crash as much and you don’t have to reset it every few days but still, first thing you need to install is “Advance Task Killer” because after using the phone for few hours it really gets slow.

I’ve been using iPhone for 2 1/2 years starting from version 1.1.2 and I’m quite happy with it, though its limited it doesn’t have problems of crashing, bad performing apps, performance issue due to overloading of memory and it doesn’t need a task killer.

Though as of right now the only option world has in “Open” mobile OS that could used by any of the mobile manufacturers, just like Linux or Windows OS that could be used on any PC, still doesn’t mean its good.

I think initial mistakes Google has made is allowing people to run services and live widgets. There are better ways than to allow programmers free hand to write their own services and allow them open widgets, but then again everyone has a different priority.

if you search google for New Pc Studio 1.4.0 there is a link to samsungs republic of ireland site. the software does recognise the phone but firmware upgrade is the only function available but there are no upgrades available yet

I now have NPS 1.5.something and, yes, it does recognize the phone, but says that file transfer is not possible. If you try to hook up with the card, it asks you to place one. Also, it says there is an upgrade for your phone, but it cannot install it (which is logical, I suppose, since file transfer isn’t possible.
Even if there is going to be an upgrade to 2.1, we can’t install it. This is the last time I’ve purchased a Samsung.

I don’t know where the power from its 800MHz goes but it seriously laggy.

The CD that came with it doesn’t even recognize the phone, the built in Android 1.6 had no access to market place, so I flashed it with 2.1 (unofficial) and it just got more laggy. It has a nice screen but phone seriously sucks, I should payed 2699 and got Sony Ericsson Xperia X10, expensive but way better phone.

Overall Android is decent OS, still needs to solve the lag issue with more apps added and more services running in the background (another problem with i5700 is 128MB RAM which fills up with few apps running in the background).

Overall phone is a failed attempt to do something right by Samsung.

@Nikhil live wallpaper will kill it seriously, the phone gets really slow after 2.1 update.

NEVER BUYING SAMSUNG AGAIN, if they can’t even ship proper software to connect to it they can’t do anything right.

hi just got I5700 from uk version 1.5 – been searching everywhere on how to update to version 2.1 but seem it wasn’t out anywhere (in april) any changes? I installed pc office studio cd which was provided with phone but amazingly it says it does not recognise my phone for update! what is the point of giving a stupid cd if it doesnt let you recognise your phone! anyway does any one know if update now available and where to get it cause Samsung’s website is to bloody crap for me to find anything in it!
thanks

I searched a number of websites for upgrading my Samsung i5700 from Android 1.5 to Android 2.1. For all those of you in India reading this post – please call the Samsung Customer Care they will do it for you for free if your phone’s still under warranty. You cannot upgrade your phone yourself.

Hey frnds…..android 2.1 for spica is officially available now in INDIA.u need to take ur cell to any samsung service centre and tell them that u r havin prblm with ur bluetooth…..then they will upgrade ur cell from 1.5 to 2.1 free of cost….i have done the same for mine…..2.1 is far better than 1.5…..but a little bit slower on spica….

Hi, I tried to upgrade my spica,the process was ok, except for after rebooting, the phone displayed the ‘triangle icon with phone in the side’ and hang up there.i continue the process until the window display says \\ pass,,, destroy instant,,,, killed timer.
i think this was the last procedure.then i unplugged my phone and restart it,
the problem now is, my phone only display the word ’samsung’ and the loading bar. i tried it 5x, same problem
btw, i used the I570EDDJB2 firmware.
Then someone suggested using jb3 baseband version. I found and download for jb3 as per suggested.
Odin detected the phone, but is not able to connect even after a 15mins wait. Like you suggested above, I disconnect the phone and reboot both the phone and windows almost 10 times. Still no progress.

Are there any possible solutions you could kindly suggest? Pls help.
Many thanks.

When I purchased my Spica in Thailand it already had 2.1 installed so I can’t help with questions about that. Samsung says Spica will not work with Kies (PC Suite) and you have to use usb mass storage option (bit of a problem if you need to download an update though – maybe they will do an OTA update but my guess is that they will tell you where to download the update from.

I cannot use live wallpapers even using 2.1, am I doing something wrong or is it the phone’s capabilities.

Good luck to you all with this great phone (I mean that). The phone is great so far except maybe for battery (needs recharging at leat once, but usually twice a day). Anyone else with the battery problem.

I just purchased an i5700 in Thailand and it comes with 2.1 Eclair preinstalled. I have tried connecting the phone to PC using New PC Suite and Kies software, but neither one recognizes the phone. I have read in the manual, here, and elsewhere that you must first deselect “mass storage only” in the phones settings, but I can find no such setting on my phone. I can transfer files by removing the card from the phone and using an adapter to connect it directly to the PC, but I cant sync or backup contacts, and cannot tether the phones data connection to my laptop.
Where exactly is this “mass storage only” setting? I’ve looked everywhere.
I really like the phone so far, but not being able to sync with my computer is a major drawback.

I’m not positive where you’re getting your information, but good topic. I must spend some time finding out much more or working out more. Thank you for wonderful information I used to be searching for this info for my mission.